Touring NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL)

Terrain

"Our job starts when the six wheels are on the ground," said Matt Heverly, a mobility systems engineer. "It's on us to know the engineering data and use our intuition to say if we are going to be able to safely go where the scientist wants to go. It's our call to make that decision, which is really, really fun and nerve-racking, and it's just the nature of exploration." Those capabilities are tested on the modifiable terrain here at Mars Yard.